Janet Wilbur is the Western Regional Director of Home Health for BayCare HomeCare (BCHC). From April 2020 through March 2022, Janet led her Home Health and private duty teams through the early fear and frenzy of COVID in the community. When other home health agencies did not have PPE and were not accepting COVID patients, Janet helped the entire BCHC team adapt with facts and focus. She worked with educators to develop training and worked with the teams to properly use and preserve PPE. She was the voice of calm and comfort when team members were trying to reconcile their work and need to care for patients with their lives and the need to care for children, parents, and others.

She helped leaders to learn and teach flexibility. She worked with her Eastern Regional partner to implement COVID protocols and special projects. With the post-acute committee of BayCare, she helped to develop extra support for patients who needed aide service to get out of the hospital and free up beds for COVID patients. She guided her private duty team of home health aides through trying times of isolation with their homebound elderly patients. She educated families who did not understand the imperatives for social distancing and the danger of the COVID virus. She supported team members who fell ill with COVID and had to quarantine with small children and no social support. She led efforts to drop off meals, cleaning supplies, masks, and medicines in several instances. And she shepherded her New Port Richey team through the tragic loss of a team member’s husband and son to COVID while the team member herself was cared for at home by her teammates. Janet ensured that supplies were delivered, donations were raised, and funerals were attended. Her support of her teams was unwavering.